Adria Hight Dies at 56 After Building John Force Racing

Adria Force Hight died at 56 on April 28, 2026, closing the life of the eldest daughter of John Force and one of the first employees at John Force Racing. She moved from the race trailer to the top of the team’s business side, and her death leaves a gap at the center of the family operation that helped shape NHRA success.

John Force Racing’s early days

Hight was born June 4, 1969, in Huntington Park, California, and grew up in Huntington Beach. When John Force Racing was still in a budding stage, she answered phones and sold T-shirts out of the race trailer before later becoming the team’s CFO.

She was the only child from John Force’s first marriage and the “fun big sister” to Ashley, Brittany, and Courtney. That family link ran through the team as well as the garage, with her sisters all building professional racing careers of their own.

Adria Force Hight and Autumn

Her connection to racing also continued through her daughter, Autumn, whom she shared with her former husband Robert Hight. She traveled to race weekends to watch and cheer for Autumn and the team in the NHRA series, and later bought a motor home so she could follow her daughter to Super Comp races.

Hight also had a music life outside the track. She sang and played tambourine in Mad Man Billy, recorded CDs, played car shows and local restaurants, and performed on the sand at Pismo Beach. She later founded Civil Defense Music, adding another side to the work that carried her beyond the pit area.

John Force once summed up the family’s pull back to racing this way: “I failed as a father, miserably. But drag racing, NHRA, brought them all home to me.” Hight’s death leaves that history tied tightly to the team she helped build from the start, from the trailer office to the front office.